Morning journal and courier., 1887-02-17
FROM BOARD DING HOUSE COURT. Mrs. Mackay She was Known by an old Miner who Used to Board with Her.

From the Missouri Republican,
 'This is indeed peculiar world," said
 a mining expert at the Planters House yes
 terday. 'tHsre 1 pick up the papers and
 read of Mrs. Mackay's doings in Paris-how
 she receives the scions of royalty, how she entertains, how she appears at the opera,
 how she dresses, and how she does a thou
 sand other things; and then I scarcely conceive that eighteen years ago she kept boarding house in Virginia City, and that
 I was one of her boarders. Yet it is true, and often ponder over it. She a young widow tEen, with an interesting child, , who has since matured into a young lady and was recently married to Italian
 prince of some kind. That little girl has often sat on my knee with little tin can in her hand which contained the contribu- tions of her admirers. In those days we lived principally on canned food, and Mrs. Mackay's back yard was paved with tin cans. The child had selected very pretty can which one of the boarders transformed into little bank. This was partly filled with coin, the result of tribute which she levied on her friends. She would climb on the boarders' knees, and, shaking her little bank, would say: Is you lucky to day?' This query had the desired effect, and the bank receipts were increased. Even in her days of distress Mrs. Mackay was a good woman. She personally superintended affairs and made her boarders comfortable l as possible. ] was then superintendent un- der Fair, and Mackay was already a mil l lionaire. Mining stock was the rage then, | and remember often how she would come l to me and some of the other boarders and l ask our advice about certain stocks, and I | am happy to say that the advice I gave her was good, and if I had taken it myself 1 would now be $5,000, 600 or $6,000,000 bet | ter off than 1 am.
 ''Then Mackay took a shine to the widow, and ing reputed one of the wealthiest men in the camp, he found smooth sailing He couldn't win on his shape nor his beauty, for every body that has seen Mackay knows that he wouldn't take prize in congress of beauty They were married, and the lit
 tie girl no longer sat on miners knees, and 'mamma's' delicate hand longer placed corn beef and cabbage on miners plates They rose faster than Sheridan stock did last summer, the only difference being that | their rise was backed by hard coin. The great Comstock lode continued to pour forth | it's richness, and Maekay and his partner became immensely wealthy. Although rear ed in poor circumstances, Mrs. Mackay | showed her good sense by securing private | tutor, by whom she was drilled and educat- | ed for five years. The little daughter was 1 put through the same course and fitted to shine in the most cultured society of the i Old World. Then came the conquests in | New York, San Francisco, and nnally the trips to Europe Ayear ago Wss III Faris, and one evening attended a performance at | the Grand Opera House. It was first
 night, and prominent in private box
 were two ladies, bedeeked with diamonds
 and festooned with flowers. They were
 the exposure of all eyes, and, leveliing my glasses, discovered behind the silks, flow CTS and diamonds the face of my former
 landlady in Virginia City. The outlines
 were the same, but time had wrought its
 changes. The young lady with her was the little girl who used to play on my knee. She had grown out of my recollection. As
 I stood looking at them midst the flashing lights, the incense of flowers, and the delic- ious music, I could not help recalling some thing of
 Some one who breasted high water,
 Swam the North Fork. and all that.
 Just to dance with odd FoilanSbee' s daughter, Tf1oI of artX